A house as old as this one becomes in time a living thing. It may have timber for bones and windows for eyes, and sitting here all alone, it can go slowly mad. It starts holding onto things, keeping them alive when they shouldn’t be. ~ Sir Thomas Sharpe

This movie is my attempt to harken back to a classic, old-fashioned, grand Hollywood production in the Gothic romance genre. … This is a genre that was important at the end of the 18th century as a romantic reaction to the Age of Reason. It marries things that are seemingly dissimilar: the heightened melodrama layered with a lot of darkness and the Gothic atmosphere of a dark fairy tale that is both creepy and eerie. It combines these elements to produce a unique flavor. The movie tells you the story of who the characters are through their surroundings and the sets, which are also a reflection of their inner psychology.

I don’t remember much of my childhood but I do remember playing with a Barbie-like doll with black and silver hair. I inherited that doll from my sister–the only doll that I had with cool hair before the 90’s new wave of Barbie dolls. I also remember customizing her later, and by that I mean chopping her hair, and dressing her with the coolest doll clothes I had.

Jetta doll, c. 80’s

At that time, I don’t remember if I realized that that doll wasn’t a Barbie. It didn’t matter. What mattered was that she was so cool. And she had to be: she was actually Jetta, from Jem and the Holograms. My sister is a fan of the show so my taste for it was a matter of time (Jetta was a favorite already). Continue reading →

Today I realized the last two summers I’ve spent most of my time re-watching two TV series I enjoy a lot: Fringe (2008-2013), and Lost (2004-2010). Today I also remembered both of them were created by J. J. Abrams (with Jeffrey Lieber and Damon Lindelof on Lost, and Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci on Fringe), known lately for his reboot of the Star Trek franchise. I don’t like what he did to Star Trek. For me, his characters are flat and lacking the freshness and ahead-of-its-time quality of the Star Trek world. Abrams turned the beauty of the themes in Star Trek—acceptance, diversity, respect, and honor—to the action-driven superficiality of Star Wars.

I asked myself why Abrams took that turn, especially after creating all the rich characters and complex situations on Lost and Fringe. That’s a rhetorical question, of course; in most cases they (Hollywood, the film industry, the producers) create what the audience wants. Other than this statement, I don’t have an actual answer to that question. I could think that Abrams wanted to portray the characters according to the personalities shown in the Original series. The problem with that is that Abrams’ reboot was released on 2009, and the Original series on 1966. The period difference is ridiculous, including the social/political/cultural circumstances. In other words, you cannot expect the 60’s Star Trek formula to work seamlessly in the 21st century. It is antiquated.

But I’ll stop now. That’s a topic for another discussion.

Today I want to talk about Lost and Fringe: two TV shows that focus on character developing with a side of science fiction and drama. Continue reading →

I used to write a summary of the passing year around this time. I don’t remember if I did it last year—if I did, I don’t remember where I kept it or if I posted it online. Usually I blogged about the year’s end when I had an active Livejournal account, where people read my babbles, rambles, and teen thoughts… and where/when I didn’t care if people knew about me—now I find it quite exposing. However, I am writing this because I want to remember. I could write it in paper but I’m typing it here. I find it easier to connect with my brain if I type (with a serif font) instead of exercising my hand with a pen. Continue reading →

Yesterday I rewatched Chan-wook Park’s Vengeance Trilogy—Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002), Oldboy (2003), and Lady Vengeance (2005). I hadn’t watched Mr. Vengeance (2002) so I took the time to watch them all, back to back, as a background exercise for my thesis research. Because of this six hours of audiovisual enthrallment (two hours per film), I decided to make a post about Mr. Park. Even if I didn’t want it to, he has become a big part of my life—personal and academic. Continue reading →